


O Christmas Tree

by LadyPaigeC



Series: 31 Days of Ficmas 2017 [18]
Category: Doctor Who, Doctor Who & Related Fandoms, Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: 31 Days of Ficmas, F/M, Meddling TARDIS, tree - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-19
Updated: 2017-12-19
Packaged: 2019-02-16 23:54:53
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,394
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13064826
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LadyPaigeC/pseuds/LadyPaigeC
Summary: The Doctor and Rose find the perfect Christmas tree, but the TARDIS doesn't quite agree with them.





	O Christmas Tree

**Author's Note:**

> Written for 31 Days of Ficmas for doctorroseprompts on Tumblr (day 18 - tree)

Rose stood at the entrance to the console room and simply watched the Doctor tinker. She didn’t know how he managed to get anything accomplished, he was always fidgeting, nothing at all like her last Doctor who was so contained and focused when he worked. Regardless, the tinkering didn’t last long, he had an almost preternatural sense of when she was near. _Superior physiology, Rose Tyler._

“Rose!” He hopped up from the grating and beamed at her. 

She smiled at his mussed hair and joined him at the control panel.

“Mornin’.”

“There’s no mor-” 

It was a game they played every morning after Rose woke up. She’d greet him, he’d tell her there was no morning on a time machine, and she’d kiss him at some point just to shut him up. Well maybe not _just_ to shut him up.

The Doctor pulled back with a daft smile on his face. “Morning, love.”

“You’re a nutter.”

He waggled his eyebrows at her, making her laugh. “Anything special you want to do today?”

Rose bit her lip. “Well, actually…”

“Yeah?”

“Next week is Christmas, at least in my timeline, and I know we’re gonna visit my mum, but I thought maybe we could, I don’t know, decorate a bit. Maybe get a tree?”

“You want to get a Christmas tree?”

“Yeah?”

“That’s a brilliant idea! A Christmas tree! We could put it here, or, no! We could put it in the library. Maybe we could get two and put one here and one in the library. Oh, and maybe one for our bedroom. And I know just the planet to get one. Best evergreens in the universe. Allon-” The Doctor stopped his dance around the console and looked at Rose. “You’re still in your jimjams.”

Rose glanced down before smiling up at the Doctor. “So I am. I did just wake up.”

“Well, go get dressed. We have to go Christmas tree shopping.”

Her smile faded and she nibbled on her thumbnail. “You really don’t mind?”

He scratched the back of his head and asked, “Why would I mind getting a- Oh, is this ‘cos of last time you asked?”

She nodded. She’d suggested it once before when he was still in jumpers and leather jackets. He hadn’t taken well to the idea.

“Ah, well, new man, I mean same man, but new, same man, an’ I…” He ruffled his hair nervously. “...well, my first real memory in this body was Christmas with you, it seems to have imprinted on me. Find myself with quite a fondness for the holiday this time around.”

A big grin broke over Rose’s face. She kissed the Doctor quickly. “I know you’re the same man, and I’m glad you like Christmas. I’ll go change, yeah?”

\--

A short time later, Rose and the Doctor trudged through the snow of Pitudaruh to one of the many farms that sold Christmas trees, or near enough for their purposes. 

They walked hand in hand through the aisles of trees arguing the merits of each specimen. As they rounded the corner, the Doctor gasped. 

“What is it? What’s wrong?”

“That one.” He pointed and crowed, “That’s the one!”

Rose looked up...and up...and up. “Doctor, it’s huge.”

“I know, it’s perfect.”

“‘S it gonna fit?”

“Rose, the TARDIS is infinite, of course one little tree is going to fit.”

Rose took a deep breath and glanced back at the tree. “Little? How’re we gonna carry it back?”

“Rose Tyler, between the two of us it’ll be easy peasy.”

She looked uncertainly at the tree, but shrugged. It would be quite majestic in the library.

“Okay. If that’s the one you want.”

He beamed at her and rocked back on his heels.

\--

A mile later, Rose was cursing the Doctor, cursing the tree, and cursing the TARDIS. _Why’d we have to park so far away?_

“We’re almost there, Rose.”

The Doctor pushed his end and Rose nearly tripped after getting poked by the top of the tree...again. Spitting needles out, she dragged the branches onward. Finally after a few more minutes of grumbling, they arrived at the TARDIS. Rose pulled her key out and opened both doors wide. She tried to drop the key back around her neck, but it stuck to the sap on her fingers. “Ugh, I need a shower.”

“What was that, love?” He shouted from the other end of the tree.

“I’m covered in sap.”

“Ah, nothing a good shower won’t fix.”

Rose rolled her eyes and got ready to heave the top of the tree through the doors.

After much struggling, they managed to get most of the tree into the console room. Rose worried her lip. It seemed that the entire room was filled by the tree and there was still a bit of the trunk sticking out of the timeship. The Doctor clambered over it and climbed inside. He wrapped his arms around Rose’s shoulder. “Isn’t it great?”

“I don’t think it fits.”

“Nonsense. The TARDIS can expand the hallways, can’t you, Old Girl?” He tapped his sticky hand on a coral strut. She did not make a pleased hum.

Rose glanced at the corridor that lead to the library and noticed it had shrunk. “Um, Doctor? I don’t think the TARDIS likes that idea.”

He turned his head to follow her gaze and he narrowed his eyes at the time rotor. “Put it back.” The hallway got smaller.

Rose giggled and the Doctor snapped his head in her direction. “Rose!”

“Sorry, but I don’t think the TARDIS approves of this tree.”

His lower lip pouted. “But it was the best tree they had, the best one on the whole bloody planet.”

Rose patted his arm. “I know, an’ ‘m sorry, but I think it might be for the best if we got it out of here.”

He slowly nodded and with a glum look went back outside to drag the tree from the TARDIS.

Rose placed her hand on a strut. “Darling, you’ll let us bring in a smaller tree, yeah?” A hum of excitement and a feeling of desire to visit the orchards came over her. “What are you up to?”

“Rose! Are you gonna help or not. It’s harder going in this direction.”

“Sorry, Doctor! I’m pushing now!”

Rose felt like getting the tree out was easier than it should of been. She wasn’t positive, but suspected the TARDIS may have intervened. 

The Doctor was pouting on the jumpseat when Rose suggested a visit to the orchards. “Bananas don’t fix everything.”

Rose lifted an eyebrow at that. 

“Okay, well, maybe they are very delicious and make me feel better, but what if I don’t want to feel better? What if I feel like stewing?”

“How ‘bout we stew in the orchards with some bananas?”

The Doctor thought it over a moment. “Oh, alright. Stewing over bananas it is.” He held his hand out for Rose.

She tried to hide her grin. 

When they arrived at the orchards all the fruit trees had been replaced by a snowy landscape and the most perfect tree Rose had ever seen growing in the middle of where the apple trees used to be. It didn’t have any bare spots, the branches were perfectly symmetrical, and it was just the right height for the library ceiling. “Oh, Doctor!” Rose ran over and found boxes of fairy lights, garland, and baubles. Everything needed to decorate a Christmas tree.

At her bubbling excitement, even the Doctor couldn’t stay mad and he threw himself into decorating their tree.

They stood back to admire their work and Rose turned to him. “It’s lovely. I only wish we could have had it in the library.”

The Doctor perked up at the TARDIS’s hum. “Let’s go make some cocoa.”

Rose smiled and followed him to the galley.

Mugs in hand they made their way back to the orchards, but instead of the regular door, they found the door to the library. The Doctor shrugged. “Library it is, no use arguing with the Old Girl today.” With a grin, the Doctor held the door for Rose.

She stepped into the library and gasped. The Doctor joined her and kissed her temple. Their tree stood proudly off to one side of the fireplace, directly across from their favorite reading chairs.

“Merry Christmas, Rose.”

“Merry Christmas, Doctor.”


End file.
